Showing posts with label Dark Matter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dark Matter. Show all posts

Friday, 13 January 2012

Review - Dark Parties By Sara Grant

"Sixteen-year-old Neva has been trapped since birth. She was born and raised under the Protectosphere, in an isolated nation ruled by fear, lies, and xenophobia. A shield "protects" them from the outside world, but also locks the citizens inside. But there's nothing left on the outside, ever since the world collapsed from violent warfare. Or so the government says...

Neva and her best friend Sanna believe the government is lying and stage a "dark party" to recruit members for their underground rebellion. But as Neva begins to uncover the truth, she realizes she must question everything she's ever known, including the people she loves the most"


Firstly fantastic UK cover.  Not only is it eye catching, but the pages also have a somewhat velveteen feel to them.  You can see lots of little flecks on the cover, which I presumed to be snow flakes.  That little edition makes a lot of sense as you read the book.  Look out for it!!!

I heard about this last year and had a somewhat instant attraction to the look and feel of it.   Keeping with the popular dystopian theme, which I adore and so it couldn't arrive quick enough!!


Initially it took my head a little getting used to reading this as its written in first person - a style that I personally don't read that often.  I was surprised at how quickly I got used to this.  I think I found the story so engrossing that its easy to just get swept away.


The idea of the protectosphere freaked me out rather a lot.  Its something I'd never really thought of but once you start reading this story you can't help but to kind of extend on it again.  Imagining being confined to a small area forever brought on a case of claustrophobia I have never felt before.  And then you go on to read the side effects of living in this confined space for many years and you quickly see how this would be such a bad thing.  I also couldn't help but imagine the place under the sphere to be England, this is something that has not been confirmed to me so I don't mean to put ideas in your head, just for me it felt all the more familiar.


The story then becomes even more creepy by people just disappearing and being forgotten.  This factor kind of broke me.  Having lost people in my life, its their memory that keeps them going.  In Dark Parties they want every part of them to disappear and that thought proved what a hard place this world would be to live in.


I think you could say I got thoroughly engrossed in this story, even placing myself in Neva's shoes - thinking what would I do??  I know I would be no where near as gutsy as her character.  My heart was literally pounding at one point in story.


There are so many twists and turns with the characters, my head was spinning at one point.  I honestly had no idea who I should trust & just when I thought I had made up my mind something would happen to change it all over again.


I cannot recommend this book highly enough.  I was on the edge of my seat for most of the story and am so eager to see where the story will go next.  Do I really have to wait nearly a year??

Rating 4 Out Of 5

Published In The UK By Indigo

This Can Be Purchased HERE and at all good bookstores

I'm taking part in the blog tour for this wonderful book!  Please come back on 29th January to see what Sara has to say!!!

Friday, 11 November 2011

Review - Dark Matter By Michelle Paver

"'What is it? What does it want? Why is it angry with me?' January 1937. Clouds of war are gathering over a fogbound London. Twenty-eight year old Jack is poor, lonely and desperate to change his life. So when he's offered the chance to be the wireless operator on an Arctic expedition, he jumps at it. Spirits are high as the ship leaves Norway: five men and eight huskies, crossing the Barents Sea by the light of the midnight sun. At last they reach the remote, uninhabited bay where they will camp for the next year. Gruhuken. But the Arctic summer is brief. As night returns to claim the land, Jack feels a creeping unease. One by one, his companions are forced to leave. He faces a stark choice. Stay or go. Soon he will see the last of the sun, as the polar night engulfs the camp in months of darkness. Soon he will reach the point of no return - when the sea will freeze, making escape impossible. And Gruhuken is not uninhabited. Jack is not alone. Something walks there in the dark." 

Original HB Copy
I had been told that this was rather a scary book, so thought its Halloween - perfect time to read a book to scare me.  Here are my thoughts.

I have the black hardback cover, so shall review that cover.  Very dark obviously.  You can just imagine the coldness and isolation that is featured in the book by looking at the cover.  Quite an eerie feel to it too.

The book is told mostly through a diary, so is all from the perspective of the character Jack.  You get given a brief rundown of his life and how is where he is at the start of the story and the realisation that he wants more and so embarks on this epic adventure.
It was from the start of the expedition  that the story started to make me feel very uncomfortable and not really enjoy the story.

This is a lot my own fault as I was expecting a more war time story I guess, but that hardly gets a mention.  This is all about the trip to the Arctic and the time spent there.  Its somewhere I don't really know a great deal about, but guessed its a very isolated place that's not going to have a supermarket just down the road.  I hadn't accounted for the fact that a fair amount of animal (mainly seal) hunting would happen.  I am the biggest softie when it comes to animals and although I don't like reading of any animal killing I could have coped with a little.  For me there was just too much and it was kind of brutal at times too.

New PB edition
I really enjoyed reading of Jack's personal developments and how he changes the way he thinks.  He builds a beautiful relationship with one character quite unexpectedly.  That I loved!!

The story reaches a thorough conclusion with most ends tied up.  But I have to say I was left feeling a little confused as to what the whole purpose of the story was.  What the author was trying to tell me with the story didn't feel that clear.  I'm sure that is just my airheadedness showing itself again and their is likely to be a very obvious reasoning staring me in the face.

Sadly this book really wasn't my cup of tea, but by no means is a terrible book or anything.  Just maybe I need to investigate my reading material a little more carefully next time

Rating 2 Out Of 5

This Is Published In The UK By Orion

This Can Be Purcashed HERE and at good book retailers